1. Field of the invention
This invention relates generally to improvements for evaporative cooler structures and more particularly, to means for collection of leaked water from the evaporative coolers, a problem of especially aged evaporative coolers due to the effects of corrosion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In areas of the world which have relatively hot or warm environments and which also have low relative humidity, the use of evaporative coolers for space cooling is very popular. These evaporative coolers, which operate on the principle that when water evaporates it takes in heat from the surrounding air and thereby effects a cooling of the air, are a relatively inexpensive method of cooling for residential and commercial buildings. In a typical evaporative cooler, air is drawn through water soaked pads which surround the inside of the cooler by means of an enclosed air blower, the air then exited from the evaporative cooler through a single duct in one side of the cooler. The typical evaporative cooler comprises a six sided oft times cube shaped cabinet with water saturated pads situated interiorly juxtaposed three or four of the vertical louvered sides with the air blower situated interiorly to the cabinet. One side of the cabinet has an opening therethrough to provide an outlet duct to vent the cooled air. Down draft coolers have pads situated on all four vertical sides of the evaporative cooler cabinet with the outlet duct in the base of the cooler. Side draft coolers have three vertical sides of pads with the outlet duct situated on the fourth vertical side.
In most evaporative cooler constructions, water is introduced into the rectangularly shaped base of the cooler, the base having raised up sides to form a water holding reservoir, the water maintained at a set level by a float actuated valve. The evaporative cooler resides with its flat base resting on a horizontal platform. Water is circulated to the vertical pads by a small motor driven pump, the water picked up from the bottom reservoir and distributed along the tops of the pads by means of flexible tubing. The water is evenly distributed over the top of the pads so to permit even percolation through all portions of the pads. Air passes transversely through the pads to evaporate the water into the air, resulting in cooling of the air.
Most present day evaporative coolers, and practically all coolers more than five years old, are made from sheet metal, principally galvanized sheet iron. These coolers, after a few years of use, are usually plagued with leaks. In this regard, with the constant presence of water in the reservoir base of the evaporative cooler, the water eventually gets under the zinc coating of the galvanized sheet iron and with the water containing dissolved oxygen, proceeds to oxidize or rust the iron. After a while, holes begin to appear in the base of the cooler and the cooler leaks water out through these holes. Typically the holes start out small where the water loss may be just a few drops per minute; however, over an extended period of time, and especially after a couple of years, the holes become quite large and permit excessive loss of water. Inasmuch as most areas of the world that are both hot with low relative humidity also suffer from a scarcity of water, water leaking from an evaporative cooler is wasted water.
An evaporative cooler will retain its structural integrity for many years, usually in excess of ten, even though it has suffered from rust corrosion and water leakage for a period of time for the reason that the holes generally appear in the flat base reservoir portion of the cooler. However, the leakage of the water can become quite excessive and costly. Presently, it is common to discard the evaporative cooler when it reaches the point that make-shift repairs are no longer able to stop the leaks.
Accordingly, it would be quite advantageous to provide means by which the water leaked from evaporative coolers may be collected in order that it not go to waste and that the usable life of the cooler is extended. Now, the inventor is aware of various other water holding devices whereby a plastic or non-corrosive liner is fitted to the inside floor of the cooler base reservoir so that it serves to protect the base reservoir. However, devices of this type known to the inventor do not catch all the water which percolates through the side pads since the water drips from the various parts of the pad and in some cases may drip between the plastic liner and inside of the sides of the base that form the bottom reservoir. Additionally, a complete seal by the liner is not made around the corner posts. Accordingly, water still works its way under the liner to rust out the cooler base. In addition, due to the construction of the bottom or down draft cooler, an inside liner, if of two pieces, must overlap twice, or if of one piece, must have one overlapping joinder.